News Roundup

China-nigeria

Promoting strategic ties

China and nigeria pledged to promote their strategic partnership during the state visit of nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in April. To deepen friendship and cooperation is in the long-term interests of the two countries and peoples， and conducive to peace， stability and development of Africa and the world， said Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi said the two sides should maintain high-level engagement， increase exchanges in all areas， give each other support and understanding on issues of core interests and major concerns， and strengthen strategic mutual trust. China is ready to expand bilateral cooperation in agriculture， fisheries， oil refining， mineral exploitation， mechatronics， light industry， textiles and processing. China is also willing to help nigeria solve the bottleneck of lack of infrastructure， skilled personnel and funds in developing industry and modern agriculture. Xi said China will support nigeria playing a bigger role in international and regional affairs， and strengthen communications and coordination on major issues such as peace and stability in Africa， climate change， and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Buhari said the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in December has injected new vitality into Africa-China relations and brought more opportunities for nigeria-China cooperation.

Africa

Intra-Africa trade Boost

The African Export-Import Bank （Afreximbank） plans to implement a new strategy aimed at driving Africas industrialization and increasing intra-Africa trade by at least 50 percent in the next five years. The Afreximbank Intra-African Trade Strategy will see the bank work with partners to ramp up trade among African countries to $250 billion by 2021 from its current level of $170 billion. The strategy will involve expanding existing trading activities within Africas regional economic communities， integrating informal trade into formal frameworks， reducing trade barriers， and minimizing the foreign exchange costs of intraAfrican trade. Through this strategy the bank will support the expansion of production， provide a facilitative environment to increase the flow of goods and services， and deepen access to African markets by creating effective and costefficient distribution mechanisms.

Kenya

Alliance to Protect Wildlife

More than 50 conservation organizations are set to launch an alliance to help tackle challenges facing wildlife in Kenya. The Conservation Alliance of Kenya（CAK）， representing over 90 percent of the conservation NGOs in the country， will be working with different groups to ensure conservation of Kenyas natural heritage is made a priority when decisions are taken， CAK said in a statement issued in Nairobi. The launch of an umbrella body of wildlife conservationists comes at a time when poaching and other wildlife crimes are surging.

namibia

Africas First 4.5G Demo

The Chinese company Huawei Technologies， a global leader in information and communications technology solutions， in conjunction with namibias MTC launched a 4.5G demonstration for the first time in Africa in April. The launch of 4G advanced and 4.5G live demo mobile coverage， attended by President Hage Geingob and several ministers， was held in Windhoek， the capital of namibia. Speaking during the launch， Huawei Strategic Director Eliz Liu said 4.5G works three times faster than 4G launched in 2012. She pledged Huaweis support for the Harambee Prosperity Plan launched by Geingob to speed up implementation of projects. Geingob said he appreciated Huaweis contribution to namibias information technology sector. MTC spokesperson Tim Ekandjo said they were excited about the partnership and the launch of the 4.5G. “Huawei has been our technical supplier for the past eight years，” Ekandjo said， adding that the company is one of the best tech equipment suppliers in the world.

burundi

controlling Population Growth

The burundi Government is facing the challenge of controlling population growth. “Population control is a major challenge for burundi. The governments response to this challenge is contained in Pillar 5 of Vision 2025， which aims to reduce population growth from 2.5 percent to 2 percent by the year 2025，” burundis Vice President Joseph Butore said on April 12. The other objectives of the government include reducing the number of children per couple from six to three in 2025， and the mortality rate for increasing lifespans from 49 years to 60 years in 2025. Butore said one of the strategies adopted was to promote family planning methods as well as improvement of reproductive health services.

China

Healthcare and eldercare

China will encourage more hospitals to provide eldercare services and more nursing homes to offer medical care， according to an official document in April. The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Health and Family Planning Commission jointly issued a circular describing the approval procedure for setting up institutions that have both healthcare and eldercare services. Applications from medical institutions that offer accommodation and care services for senior citizens will be given preference in the approval procedure， according to the document. Similar policies will also be available for elderly homes to establish senile disease hospitals， rehabilitation centers， traditional Chinese medicine services or terminal care institutions. The circular called on relevant authorities to remove unnecessary barriers in the approval process， adding that collaboration between the two services will also be encouraged.

childrens literature Award

Childrens fiction writer Cao Wenxuan became the first Chinese to win the Hans Christian Andersen Award at the Bologna Childrens Book Fair in Italy on April 4. The award， which is named after the 19thcentury Danish fairytale creator， is considered the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of childrens books. Born in 1954 in a small village in east Chinas Jiangsu Province， Cao studied in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University （PKU） from 1974-77. He is now a professor of Chinese literature and childrens literature at the PKU. He began to publish stories for children in 1979. His major novels include Grass Hut， The Thin Rice and Bronze and Sunflower. Some of his books have been translated into English， French， Japanese and other foreign languages.

new secretary for ipcc

Current Vice President of the World Me- teorological Organization（WMO） Abdalah Mokssit， from Morocco， has been offered and accepted the position of secretary of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change （IPCC）. The announcement was made at the 43rd Session of the IPCC in Nairobi in April. Mokssit has extensive experience with the IPCC， WMO and at the national level. Under his leadership， the Meteorological Service of Morocco became one of the leading meteorological agencies in Africa， meeting high international standards.

China

Dictionarys records

Guinness World Records on April 12 confirmed that the Xinhua Dictionary， published by Chinas Commercial Press， is the “most popular dictionary” and the“bestselling book （regularly updated）.” As of July 28， 2015， Xinhua Dictionary， the first modern Chinese dictionary since the foundation of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1， 1949， had sold 567 million copies globally， Guinness World Records announced at the presentation ceremony in London. “Over the past year， our teams have completed extensive data investigation， collection and examination for these two records and we are delighted to verify that Xinhua Dictionary is the most popular dictionary and the bestselling regularly updated book，”said Marco Frigatti from Guinness World Records. Dubbed the “national dictionary，”Xinhua Dictionary has been a tool for several generations of Chinese people， impacting the linguistic lives of billions. It is also a good tool for foreigners who study the Chinese language and culture.

China

Football Development Plan

Chinas national drive on football development has been endorsed by a newly issued plan in April， aiming at entering the football “elite club” and becoming a “top class football nation” by 2050. Covering a long time span from 2016-50， the 14-page Medium and Long-Term Plan of Chinese Football Development outlines a multidecade vision of the sports progress in the country. The three-step target in the span of 35 years is per capita football pitch construction， financial and taxation policies to support football clubs， and soccer culture cultivation nationwide. By 2020， China hopes to have 20，000 schools with football as a specialty， and 30 million elementary and middle school students playing the sport.

China

Financing for Joint Projects

The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank （AIIB） in April signed their first co-financing framework agreement， paving the way for their cooperation on joint projects this year. The agreement outlines the co-financing parameters of the World Bank and AIIB investment projects， the World Bank said in a statement. In 2016， the AIIB expects to approve about $1.2 billion in financing， with the World Bank joint projects anticipated to account for a sizable share， said the World Bank. But it did not give details of its share in the co-financed projects. According to the statement， the World Bank and the AIIB are currently discussing nearly one dozen co-financed projects in sectors that include transport， water and energy in Central Asia， South Asia and East Asia. Under the agreement， the World Bank will prepare and supervise the co-financed projects in areas such as the environment and social safeguards.